Civil servants allege corruption in promotion exams
Poly teachers to extend strike action
‘W’abo no! …Chief slaps Chief
Minister descends on surface miners
Malam's
case refuses to die
Gov't says
Rawlings has been paid allowance
Police
assured of assistance …As ‘Nnoboa Foundation is launched
Tony Aidoo's
Lawyer still pleads for an amicable settlement!
Barclays
create new bank for merchants
Police
escort ‘wee’ peddlers.
Huudu’s
Benz case drags on.
28 file
papers for NPP polls
Civil servants allege corruption in promotion exams
The Daily Graphic reports that civil servants in the Kintampo District have called for the abolition of promotion examination at all grades in the Civil Service.
They suggested that in place of the examinations, seniority and competence should be the basis for promotion.
They says promotion examinations have served only as gold mines for some senior officers at the Public Services Commission, adding that the situation breeds incompetence in the Civil Service as some civil servants manage to manipulate the system.
The concerns were raised in a resolution passed at the end of the district's delegates' conference of the Civil Servants Association (CSA) at Kintampo.
The resolution also called on the government to reintroduce the Cap 30 Pension Scheme to replace the Social Security Pension Scheme without any further delay, in order to lessen the burden of workers when they go on pension.
More…/
Poly teachers to extend strike action
The Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) has decided to continue with its strike action to press home its demand for upward adjustment in the salaries of its members.
The decision was taken at an emergency national delegates conference held in Kumasi at the weekend at the instance of the Minister of Education.
According to the Daily Graphic, a release signed by the President, Mr Joseph Kofi Boakye and Kwaku Owusu-Boahene, General Secretary of the association, expressed regret at the situation where members of the association have had to embark on a series of strike actions before their demands were met.
The statement said the association views the continuous use of strikes as an undesirable weapon and called for lasting solutions to their age-old demands.
GRi…/
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President John Kufuor has dismissed criticisms that he is running a government of nepotism, whereby high and leading positions in government are only given to close friends and family associates, reports The Daily Guide.
“All the people I have chosen to form the core of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government are people with proven qualities who come from all parts of the country” the President said, adding that he has the absolute confidence in the people chosen to help salvage the country from economic malaise and abject poverty.
Addressing a large number of people at Kukuom, his first point of call during his just-ended four-day visit to the Brong-Ahafo Region, President Kufuor said he has carefully and painstakingly fixed a government that will have a national character to take care of everyone’s need.
“It is therefore not true that I have been nominating my friends and family members to hold top government appointments”.
More…/
‘W’abo no! …Chief slaps Chief
The chief of Boankra, Nana Bonsi, who allegedly slapped another in the face, has been summoned before a Kumasi Circuit Tribunal, charged with assault.
He has, pleaded not guilty to the charge and is on a ¢5 million bail to appear before the tribunal on August 20 this year.
The chief, Nana Antwi Asiedu Bonsi, 58, is alleged to have slapped the face of Nana Kwabena Dwuma II, chief of Boankra in the Ejisu Traditional area of the Ashanti Region.
After the slap, he (Nana Bonsi) chased him (Nana Kwabena Dwuma II) to the Ejisu Police Station, where he again allegedly gave him another ‘dirty slap’ in the face, while he was lodging a complaint.
The Krontihene faces two counts of assault but has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is on bail to appear on August 20, 2001.
During cross-examination, the chief of Boankra stunned the packed court as he narrated how Nana Bonsi slapped him in the presence of his wife and at the police station while he was lodging a complaint.
The act, he said, made him to bleed profusely from the nostrils until he was rushed for treatment at the Ejisu Government Hospital.
According to the Prosecution on February 16, 2001, a public announcement was made at Ejisu that Nana Bonsi has been destooled by the Ejisu Traditional Council.
Nana Bonsi is said to have suspected the chief of Boankra, Nana Dwuma, to be the brain behind his destoolment and therefore hurried to his house at Boankra to hunt for him. He saw Nana Dwuma and his wife in their home and, without provocation, slapped him.
More…/
Minister descends on surface miners
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Joseph B. Aidoo has stated that surface-mining is doing great harm to some parts of the Western Region and has suggested that if investors would want to do that then the best option would be for the government to place a price on it.
If mining companies would not want to do underground mining, which to all intents and purposes does not have adverse effects on the environment then there is the uttermost need to take a serious view of their operations in the region, he told a quarterly meeting of Regional Heads of Departments at Sekondi last week.
Mr Aidoo expressed displeasure at how some surface mining companies in the region have caused damage to the environment.
The meeting was aimed at getting the Minister and the participants to interact on the region’s problems and allow for openness in sharing experience and solving problems.
GRi…/
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Malam's
case refuses to die
The
Ghanaian Chronicle says hardcopy evidence exists that Mr Worlanyo Agrah, a key
prosecution witness in the trial and conviction of Mallam Isa, was lying when
he issued a statement to the Ghanaian Chronicle last week, denying that he ever
tried to influence the direction of his cross-examination by counsel for the
jailed former Sports Minster, Malam Isa.
The paper learnt that the evidence
found its way to the executive branch of the Government, which then passed it
on to the security services for examination and action.
It is believed that the custodial
invitation to Agrah by the Bureau of National Investigations may have
everything to do with this new evidence.
According to the paper, the records
show that Mr Agrah did contact Lawyer A. Tanko, until recently a partner in an
Accra law firm headed by Mr Ambrose Dery, a regarded lawyer from the Northern
Region, who stepped in to add some bite to Isa's defence after Isa's
dissatisfaction with the performance of Alhaji Nuhu Billa, the ageing retired
policeman/retired circuit court judge.
On the face of it, legal opinion is
divided whether the substance of Agrah's implicating remarks and comments as
contained in the hardcopy evidence can impact the conviction or merely indict
the investigators for shoddy work and absence of due diligence.
Contrary to what Agrah said,
evidence shows that he actually spoke to Tanko, who is known by the GFA
Mafiosi, but has no legal contract with them.
Agrah told Tanko that he had not
spoken to anyone about his request to him to contact Dery, but that 'it is only
Alhaji who knows about this. The paper wonders if that Alhaji could be Jawula,
who like Agrah, was favoured by Professor Atta Mills, the NDC Presidential candidate? Jawula is a senior director at
the Ministry of Finance.
The
Chronicle also alleges that the hardcopy evidence also has Agrah confirming
that he had cleared the foreign bank account.
More…/
Gov't says
Rawlings has been paid allowance
Despite claims
by close aides of former President Jerry John Rawlings and subsequent
confirmation by his household that he has not been paid his gratuity, including
his monthly salaries since he handed over power, the government says he has
been paid.
A letter from the Controller and
Accountant-General's Department to Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister for
presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff, and faxed to the Chronicle, said
Rawlings has been paid his pension up to date.
Though the amount paid him was not
disclosed because it was 'confidential' in nature, the letter stated that
Rawlings’ pension has been paid into his accounts at Ghana Commercial Bank
(GCB) at Burma Camp and the CAL Merchant Bank in Accra.
"In March, 2001, ex-President
Rawlings advised us to pay his monthly pension into his account at CAL Merchant
Bank and we have complied with the request," stated the letter signed by
E.A. Ofosuhene, Deputy Controller and Accountant-General.
Coincidentally, the former President
and his chief aide-de-camp, Mr Victor Smith, who confirmed that his boss had
not been paid, could not react to the statement. Both men were out of the
country as at Friday night.
Rawlings left Accra on a British
Airways flight, Wednesday with former Deputy Defence Minister, Dr Tony Aidoo
while Smith had earlier traveled out of the country.
GRi…/
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Police
assured of assistance …As ‘Nnoboa Foundation is launched
The
Crusading Guide says it has been observed that even though the Ghana Police
Service is constitutionally mandated to ensure the security of the people of
the country, the Service is woefully resourced.
Against
this backdrop, a new Non-Governmental Organisation, Nnoboa Foundation, has
given the full assurance that it is going to assist the Police Service acquire
adequate logistics for a much more efficient discharge of its duties.
This assurance was given by Mrs.
Sama Chuku, Founder of the Foundation during a press launch (of Nnoboa
Foundation), in Accra last week. The Foundation was born out of the need to
help the police grab the upsurge of crime.
A target of ¢12 billion has been set
which is to be realized within a period of nine months, to help the Service
purchase Security Equipped Vehicles Communication Gadgets, rehabilitate Police
Stations and finance the training of Police personnel, among other things.
The realization of the target will
come through fundraising through raffles, sale of stickers, 'T' Shirts, and
individual and corporate donations, among others.
More…/
Tony
Aidoo's Lawyer still pleads for an amicable settlement!
The
Crusading carries that the controversial Dr Tony Aidoo, ex-Deputy Minister of Defence,
was absent at the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)
during the hearing of a case involving him and Sedi Bansah, the paper’s
reporter, last Tuesday.
Though Tony's Lawyer, Mr Cletus
Avoka was present, the paper gathered that the ex-Deputy Minister, was away in
Kumasi attending to a private issue.
For the second time, after Avoka had
dismissed the Ghana Journalists Association's petition against his client as
not worthy of consideration by the GHRAJ, he urged the Commissioner, Mr Emile
Short to use his position to see to the amicable solution of the matter before
him (Short).
According to Avoka, the GJA and Sedi
Bansah should be morally persuaded to drop the case against Dr Tony Aidoo,
considering the fact that Dr Aidoo had lost his job as a State Minister.
Not only that, Avoka indicated that
his client had joined the army of the jobless in the street, losing his car and
his house as well, with the NDC’s loss of the last elections.
Avoka said, he believed that the
objective of the petition was to "pull the ears of Tony Aidoo" in
order to restrain him from using his office to perpetuate arbitrariness and
since he (Tony Aidoo) had lost his office there was no need for the pursuit of
the case to its logical conclusion.
The Commissioner, however, said the
GJA, should be allowed to amend its petition and come back "properly"
as demanded by Avoka.
Sedi Bansah is also to be joined
with the GJA in bringing an action against Tony Aidoo.
Bansah on the 19th of
September, 2000 was arrested on the orders of Dr. Tony Aidoo by the Army and
the Police while he was seeking a clarification on an allegation of assault
supposed to have been meted out by Tony Aidoo against one James Adayuga then of
Jerrock Rangers Security Agency.
GRi…/
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Barclays
create new bank for merchants
The Accra
Mail reports that Barclays Africa and Barclays Capital have jointly established
the Merchant Banking Africa, a new pan-African initiative that will focus on
corporate and institutional financial needs in 11 African countries where the
bank has branches.
A release issued in Accra by Mmi
RICS Consult Limited on behalf of Barclays Africa said Mr Jonathan Berman has
been appointed as the Director of the newly formed bank.
He will lead a team that will
incorporate the bank’s trade and commodity financing unit that was previously
based in London.
“We are currently recruiting for our team in
the areas of project finance, export finance, structured and debt capital
markets,” said Mr Berman.
While the bank focuses on the 11 countries to
offer both local currency and offshore financing, it will also handle transactions
in other countries such as Mozambique where the bank’s global customers
operate.
Merchant Banking in Africa has its head office
in Johannesburg and is represented in Accra by Mr Alhassan Andani, Corporate
Director.
GRi…/
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The Graphic
Sports carries that world soccer governing body FIFA has agreed to release some
funds to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to be used for selected
developmental projects in Ghana.
Consequently, the GFA has been asked to apply
as soon as practicable to FIFA for the release of the grant, which was
threatened earlier to be withdrawn by the international body due to recent
allegations of financial impropriety at GFA.
Mr. Yusuf Adam Ibrahim, chairman of the GFA
Executive council in an interview confirmed FIFA’s decision and explained that
the developmental fund is different from the $250,000 goal project fund that
the world soccer governing body releases to its member countries every year.
According to Mr. Ibrahim, a member country that
benefits from the developmental fund has the prerogative to select which
project it wants to undertake and then presents its proposal to FIFA.
Once the proposal is accepted, the fund is
released to the applicant, and after a given time FIFA sends an inspection team
to inspect the project for assessment and recommendations for more funds, if
necessary.
GRi…/
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Police
escort ‘wee’ peddlers.
The image
of the Ghana police service was given a further dent last week when the chief
of Swedru, Nana Kobena Botwe II told a stunned audience at this year’s Akwambo
Festival that the Swedru police escort ‘wee’ (marijuana) peddlers to send the
drug to their destinations, writes The Independent.
“I myself know and can pin point some policemen
who escort cars packed with marijuana in the streets and across the town to
their destinations,” he told the audience that included Vice President Aliu
Mahama and Interior Minister, Malik Yakubu Alhassan.
Nana Botwe openly stated that the Swedru police
are very corrupt and are in the habit of taking bribes from all who approach
them for their services, thus seriously affecting their work.
He also disclosed that the police openly tell
complainants that their pens have run out of ink meaning the complainant has to
give some money to enable him fill the pen with ink.
He therefore called on the Inspector-General of
Police to consider transferring all policemen and women who have stayed at
Swedru for the past six years, saying, “familiarity breeds contempt,” adding
that, “their work is just unsatisfactory.”
More…/
Huudu’s
Benz case drags on.
The case
involving the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji
Huudu Yahaya and one Fred Oware over a Mercedes Benz saloon car has taken
another turn.
The Independent says it gathered that as at
Monday evening the police was still unable to retrieve the said car from the
Alhaji although he had promised to send it to them by then.
A police source hinted the paper on the
telephone that Alhaji Yahaya’s lawyer came to the police headquarters around
4.15 p.m. to collect the letter covering the sale of the Benz from the custom
excise and preventive service (CEPS).
According to the source, the lawyer requested
for the said letter in order to make informed choice together with his client.
He, however, did not report back.
The police source however, said it is believed
that the police could hear a favourable response from Huudu’s camp.
Alhaji Yahaya was invited last Thursday to help
the police find lasting solution to the disputed Benz currently in his custody.
The paper in its July 12 edition reported of
how the owner of the disputed Benz salon car stormed the NDC headquarters to
demand his car from the NDC scribe. In an apparent fit of anger, Oware stormed
out of the NDC headquarters and informed the police of Huudu’s unwillingness to
return the car although he had assured the police to release it to their
custody.
The police had on countless occasions entered
into a gentleman agreement with the NDC scribe to return the Benz car to the
owner, adding that they took that decision because the CEPS had informed them
that there was institutional error in allocating the vehicle to Alhaji Yahaya.
Oware’s three cars imported into the country,
it was gathered, were seized and sold to government functionaries in the run-up
to the 2000 elections.
GRi…/
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28 file
papers for NPP polls
The
Statesman reports that with five days to the close of filing of nominations for
the election of NPP National Executive at the party’s National Delegates
Conference on August 25, twenty-eight people have so far decided to vie for the
seven vacant positions.
Of the number, four are contesting for the
National Chairmanship; 10 for the three National Vice Chairmanship positions;
eight for the National Organiser, four for the National Treasurer and two
people have not indicated their positions.
None
has however, shown interest in the post for General Secretary, which the
incumbent, Dan Botwe is expected to re-contest.
Contestants for the National Chairmanship
position to be vacated by Samuel Odoi-Sykes are, Huruna Esseku, veteran
politician and a royal from Senya Breku in the Central Regional, Mohammed
Musah, Central Regional Youth Organiser, Col. (Rtd) S. Addai-Duah, Greater
Accra Regional First Vice-Chairman and Robert Quinoo-Arthur.
For the Vice-Chairmanship, those contesting are
Peter Mac Manu, Western Regional Chairman, Gifty Ayeh, popularly called Daavi
Ama of Dimples Junction and a member of the National Media Commission, Stephen
A. Ntim, Ken Gag Senaya and Y.A. Osebre.
Others are Osei Yaw Barimah, Samuel Kwame
Amable, Agnes Okudjeto, Dr Kwesi Adjepong and Nana Nyarko Abronomah.
Isaac Kwesi Arthur, Greater Accra Regional
Treasurer, is contesting the post of National Treasurer together with Samuel
James Nii Adjei Tawiah, Michael Dugan and Dr Brandford Ekow Ansah.
Those for the National Organiser are Lord
Commey, Acting Greater Accra Regional Secretary, Mustapha Abdul Hamid, a 30-year
old advertising agent with MMRS, Francis Kojo Smith, Joseph K. Darko, Sulemana
Yirimea, George Okyere Asiedu, Johnson Cliff Aboagye and Constantine
Bartholomew Mouteyiri.
The two other people who have picked up application
forms but not indicated their positions are Dr Gyiele Murah and Herman Seshie.
So far, only three people have returned their
completed application forms. They are Elvis Emmanuel Mesre Boahene, for
National Vice Chairman, Alhaji Sulemana Yirimea and George Okyere Asiedu for
National Organiser.
GRi…/
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